Latimore | |
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 Latimore in October 1983 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Benjamin William Lattimore September 7, 1939 Charleston, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died | August 22, 2026 (aged 86) Florida, U.S. |
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| Years active | 1965–2026 |
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Benjamin William Lattimore (September 7, 1939 – August 22, 2026), known professionally as Latimore, was an American blues and R&B singer, songwriter, and pianist. In 2017, Latimore was inducted in to the Blues Hall of Fame.
Latimore was born in Charleston, Tennessee, on September 7, 1939, and was influenced by country music, his Baptist church choir, and the blues. His first professional experience came as a pianist for various Florida-based groups including Steve Alaimo. He first recorded around 1965 for Henry Stone's Dade record label in Miami, Florida. In the early 1970s, he moved to the Glades label, and had his first major hit in 1973 with a jazzy reworking of T-Bone Walker's "Stormy Monday", which reached No. 27 on the R&B chart.
His first national hit was "Stormy Monday," which reached #27 on the R&B chart in 1973. He followed it with "If You Were My Woman," a gender-modified cover of "If I Were Your Woman" (written by Pam Sawyer, Clay McMurray, and Gloria Jones and first popularized by Gladys Knight & the Pips), which reached No. 70 on the R&B chart. His biggest success came in 1974, with "Let's Straighten It Out", a No. 1 R&B hit, which also reached No. 31 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. He followed it up with more hits, including "Keep The Home Fire Burnin'" (No. 5 R&B, 1975) and "Somethin' 'Bout 'Cha" (No. 7 R&B, 1976). His hits dissipated in the late 1970s.
"He likes what he's singing so much that he doesn't have to go for the simulated high emotion of some fancy vocal embellishment—he just puts those lyrics across, intelligent and matter-of-fact, as if you've never heard them before, which maybe you haven't."
Latimore moved to Malaco Records in 1982, releasing seven albums of modern blues music with that label. He briefly left the label in 1994 and released a song for the J-Town label, Turning Up The Mood, before returning to Malaco in 2000 with You're Welcome To Ride. Next, Latimore recorded an album with Mel Waiters' label, Brittney Records, called Latt Is Back.
Later, Latimore collaborated with Henry Stone on a new record label called LatStone; which released his first new album in six years, Back 'Atcha.
He continued to work as a session pianist. He appeared most recently on Joss Stone's albums, The Soul Sessions (2003) and Mind Body & Soul (2004), along with fellow Miami music veterans Betty Wright, Timmy Thomas, and Willie Hale, and made an appearance in May 2014 on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
In 2017, Latimore was inducted in to the Blues Hall of Fame.
Latimore died on August 22, 2026, at the age of 86. His place of death is reported variously as Tampa or Riverview, Florida.
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